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Why the White House is silent on the return of $5.2M from SBF

When asked whether President Joe Biden intended to repay the political contributions from SBF, a White House official sidestepped the topic.

Photo by Tabrez Syed / Unsplash

When asked whether President Joe Biden intended to repay the political contributions from SBF, a White House official sidestepped the topic.

Will the president return the funds?

When asked whether US president Joe Biden will refund the $5.2 million in political contributions previously donated by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment. In a news conference on December 13 (1), Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller questioned,

"Does he call on all politicians who received campaign donations that may have been made using consumer money to repay those funds?"

She referred to the Democratic National Committee, which oversees the U.S. Democratic Party and is a part of it, saying, "Anything that's linked to political contributions, from here I would have to send you to the DNC." Biden is a member of the DNC. A federal statute known as the Hatch Act forbids anyone working for the executive branch of government from getting involved in political campaigning.  Miller pressed Jean-Pierre once more for her answer to Biden's viewpoint, which she said she couldn't discuss "even his perspective, even his ideas about." I'm unable to discuss the contributions or donations from here.

SBF's involvement

On December 13, Bankman-Fried was accused of breaking many campaign finance regulations, including those governing donations, hindering the FEC's operations, and making contributions on behalf of other people. With his $5.2 million in donations (2), he was the second-largest "CEO-contributor" to Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, trailing only the $56 million from media tycoon Michael Bloomberg.

The creator of FTX contributed significantly to the Democratic party in the 2022 midterm elections, coming in second place overall with $36.8 million going to its candidates. During the midterm elections, according to public records, Bankman-Fried donated slightly over $240,000 to Republicans, although he acknowledged using so-called dark money in a statement. He donated around the same to both parties, according to Tiffany Fong, a cryptocurrency YouTuber, in an interview on November 16.

Due to bankruptcy proceedings, politicians who received political donations from Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX officials may be required to refund the money to the bankruptcy trustee in any instance. According to a recent story, employees at FTX may have political contributions worth up to $73 million recalled to satisfy the debts owed by the defunct exchange (3). Several politicians have already resorted to donating their money to charities to separate themselves from the firm and its donations.

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